WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

Search This Blog

WATCH OUR MONTHLY WEBtv SHOW

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON

Click on this logo to find out more about helping CFZtv and getting some smashing rewards...

SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.
Theoretically anyone could find Bigfoot. The idea is really very simple; pack up some gear and head out to your local wilderness area and be vewy, vewy, qwiet (Elmer Fudd voice). Then simply camp and fish and hang out with the wildlife. If you have any luck at all you’ll find Bigfoot; well ok, you probably won’t but you likely won’t see any bears either and everyone knows they exist. Right?

The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization organizes Bigfoot hunting trips quite often; they don’t try to kill Sasquatch just look for him. According to them there are a couple of different classifications for Bigfoot witnesses:

Class A sighting: the observation was clear enough to rule out a misinterpretation of a common animal, etc. The observation was clear enough to leave only three possibilities: The witness is either totally lying, or the witness saw a real Bigfoot, or the witness saw a human in the woods wearing a Bigfoot costume.

Class B witness: a person who has not seen a Bigfoot clearly, but has perhaps had either a quick sighting or a confrontation in the dark, or at least was close enough to hear a Bigfoot.

So you’re wandering around your local forest and you see or think you see a Sasquatch, now what? The only folks who are going to believe you are other Bigfoot believers. So, do you go to your local press with your sighting? Keep it to yourself or hit the net looking for like-minded individuals?

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are
to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic
level it is about the relationship between our species and various
species of larger cat. That is why, sometimes, you will read stories
here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology, but have
everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans,
we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we
have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.

And finally my friends, a brand new scene#57 of
the Gonzo Weekly magazineonce again edited by meis now online (and its
all free)

Issue 57 of Gonzo Weekly is out and features interviews
with Alan Davey about his new album, Merrell Fankhauser about his recent
discovery of a veritable treasure trove of historical material deep in the
desert, Miss Crystal Grenade about her launch party, and Joey Molland about
Badfinger, his new album, and playing on 'All things Must Pass'. There is news
on Auburn's new video and an exclusive still. There is also my totally
subjective review of the year, Doug Harr on Black Sabbath and more news,
reviews, features and comments than you can shake a stick at. And its free.

* The Gonzo Daily is a two-way process. If you have any news or want
to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and
want to showcase your work or even just say hello, please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and
spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to
read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more
traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we
all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow....

* The
Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about
artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has
other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly
newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this
link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

* We should probably mention here that some of our posts are links to
things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not
responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest
guv!

* Jon Downes, the editor of all these ventures (and several
others), is an old hippy of 54 who - together with his orange cat (who is
currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and two very small kittens (one of
whom is also orange) - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a
tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon, which he shares with various fish. He is
ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his
elderly mother-in-law and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus... did
we mention the orange cat?

Andy Warhol – who would have celebrated his 85th birthday today – is renowned for his countless interests, obsessions and muses, and for the lauded king of pop art, animals were no exception, especially cats and dogs.

Warhol’s love of cats began at an early age and was fuelled by his mother Julia’s own appreciation for the species. Indeed, during the pair’s residency at Warhol’s Carnegie Hill townhouse throughout the 1950s and '60s, they surrounded themselves with cats, all of which were named Sam except for one called Hester. They had so many that friends remember their giving away kittens on a frequent basis. It was during this period that Warhol self-published his book 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy (1954), a series of ink wash cat portraits, as well as a book of Julia’s cat drawings entitled Holy Cats by Andy Warhol’s Mother.